Real Madrid-Barcelona: the Bernabéu hosts El Clásico
The LaLiga leaders, who booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday, take on the second-placed side looking to extend their eight-point lead (9:00pm CEST).
El Clásico returns to the Santiago Bernabéu. Four days after qualifying for the Champions League semi-finals by beating Manchester City on penalties, our team faces another demanding challenge. The LaLiga leaders take on the second-placed side on matchday 32 (9:00pm CEST).
The objective for Ancelotti's side, who have gone 16 games unbeaten, is to extend the eight-point gap over Barcelona with just seven games remaining in LaLiga. To do so, they will be looking to rely on the support of fans who, after the huge effort they put in at the Etihad Stadium, have yet to see their side lose in 20 official matches at the Bernabeu this season (16 wins and four draws).
"We have a great opportunity to get closer to winning LaLiga," said Carlo Ancelotti at the press conference ahead of the third Clasico of the season. Our team won the two previous ones, the LaLiga match at Montjuïc (1-2) with a brace from Bellingham and the Spanish Super Cup final (4-1), in which Vini Jr. stood out with a hat-trick. Both players are part of the Italian coach's squad, who has almost all of his players available, with the exception of the injured Courtois and Alaba.
The opposition
Barcelona come into the game in their best form in LaLiga. Xavi's side are unbeaten in ten games, eight of which they have won. That has allowed them to consolidate the second place in the table. Lewandowski, with 13 goals, is their top scorer in the competition.